Multiple way stud poker games

ABSTRACT

A player makes a wager which is allocated among a plurality of stud poker hands to be played by the player. One of the wagers is allocated to a full hand of cards and the other wagers are allocated among poker hands that are comprised of various subsets of the full hand. The player is then dealt the full hand of cards. The player wins or loses depending on the stud poker hand ranking of the full hand. The various subsets of hands are then analyzed to determine whether there are any winning hand combinations among the subset of hands. Awards for winning hand combinations are 1l made to the player based on the poker hand ranking of each subset hand and the full hand according to a pay table and the amount wagered by the player on each subset hand and the full hand.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/652113, filed Aug. 28, 2003, entitled “Multiple Way Stud Poker Games”, now pending; and is also based on and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/319504, filed Aug. 28, 2002, entitled “Multiple Way Stud Poker Games.”

This invention relates primarily to video poker games, and more particularly to electronic video stud poker games that are based on poker hand rankings and provide for the simultaneous play of multiple stud poker hands.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Five card, six card and seven card stud poker games have been played for many years, usually in a poker room setting in which a plurality of players play against each other striving to obtain the highest ranking poker hand (or lowest ranking poker hand in Lo-Ball poker) in order to win the pot which comprises the wagers made by the players during the play of the game.

Electronic video poker has also been a staple in gaming casinos for many years and this well known game is a single player game based on draw poker. The player attempts to achieve a winning poker hand ranking by discarding from an initial five card hand and drawing new cards in order to try and improve his poker hand. A pay table is provided to show the player what he can win based on the poker hand ranking achieved after the draw step and the amount wagered by the player.

There have been attempts to adapt stud poker to an electronic video game format. One attempt involved a single player seven card stud game in which the player makes a first wager and initially received three cards face up. In one version of this game, the player has the option of making additional wagers before the player receives the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh cards. In another version, the player also has the option of making additional wagers before receiving the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh cards unless the player has already achieved a winning poker hand combination, in which case the player is not allowed to make additional wagers. In either version, the final seven cards are analyzed and the best five card hand is used to determine the poker hand ranking of the player's hand. A pay table is used based on five card poker hand rankings and the amount wagered by the player to determine the amount won by the player when he achieves a winning hand.

Another popular single player stud poker game is known as DOUBLE DOWN STUD poker. This game is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,137 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,413, the disclosures of each of which are incorporated herein by this reference. In DOUBLE DOWN STUD poker, the player makes a first wager and is dealt four cards all face up. The player may make an additional wager prior to receiving the fifth card. After the fifth card is dealt, the five card hand is compared to a pay table to determine if the player has a winning or losing card combination based on poker hand ranking.

Another stud poker game that has been adapted to a single player video poker format is a game known as LET IT RIDE®. In this game, the player makes a wager of three units at the start of each round of play. The player is then shown three cards face up. The player may decrease his wager by one unit or let all three wagers ride. The player is then shown a fourth card. The player may decrease his wager by one unit or let his wagers ride. The player is then shown a fifth card and the poker hand ranking of the final five card hand is used to determine winning or losing plays based on a pay table. The method of play of LET IT RIDE® is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,081, U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,430 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,892, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein.

Another stud poker game is a game known as Three Card Poker in which the player simply plays one or more three card stud poker hands. The pay table is based on three card poker hand rankings. Typical three card stud poker hand rankings are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,774 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,719, the disclosures of each of which are incorporated herein.

There has also been a game proposed by IGCA, under the name 3 HAND POKER, in which the player plays draw poker using a five card poker hand and two three card poker hands. Each of the three card poker hands are a subset of the five card poker hand. The player plays the five card poker hand as would be conventional in draw poker by holding the desired cards from the initial five card deal and receiving replacement cards for the discarded cards. The final five card hand is analyzed to determine whether it is a winning five card poker hand according to a five card poker hand pay table. The first three cards of the final five card hand are also analyzed to determine whether these three cards form a winning three card poker hand according to a three card poker hand pay table. Likewise, the last three cards of the final five card hand are also analyzed to determine whether these three cards form a winning three card poker hand according to a three card poker hand pay table.

None of the previous attempts to put stud poker on an electronic video poker gaming machine provide the player with the opportunity to play multiple hands of stud poker with each of the hands being the initial five card hand or a subset of the initial five card hand.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a stud poker game in which the player can achieve a plurality of winning card combinations from a single deal of the cards. The player can win large payouts on a single deal of the cards for being dealt particularly good initial cards. This allows the player to benefit from a single deal of good cards in that more than one of the hands being played by the player becomes a winning hand.

It is a feature of the present invention to deal and display an initial stud poker hand to the player. The initial hand is analyzed to determine its poker hand ranking and the player receives an award for winning poker hand according to a pay table. Then various subsets of the initial hand are also analyzed to determine if any of these subsets also forms a winning poker hand combination and the player receives one or more additional awards according to a pay table.

It is an advantage of the present invention that the player can receive multiple awards on a single deal of the initial cards. The method of play provides for a high hit frequency because even if the initial deal of cards does not form a winning combination, one or more of the subsets of cards of the initial deal may form a winning combination.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The method of the present invention involves the player making a wager to play a stud poker game. The wager is allocated among a plurality of poker hands to be played by the player. One of the wagers is allocated to a full hand of cards and the other wagers are allocated among poker hands that are comprised of various subsets of the full hand.

The player is then dealt the full hand of cards from a deck of playing cards. The player wins or loses depending on the stud poker hand ranking of the full hand. The amount won by the player is based on the poker hand ranking of the hand according to a pay table and the amount wagered by the player on the full hand.

The various subsets of hands are then analyzed to determine whether there are any winning hand combinations among the subset of hands. Awards for winning hand combinations are made to the player based on the poker hand ranking of each subset hand according to a pay table and the amount wagered by the player on each subset hand.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the gaming machine configured to practice the method of present invention including a showing of the distribution of multiple stud poker hands.

FIG. 2 shows the gaming machine configured to practice the method of present invention including a representative deal of multiple stud poker hands that could occur during the play of the game.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is preferably an electronic video stud poker game and is designed to be played by having the stud poker hands displayed on a video screen. Alternatively, the present invention can also be played as a live table game with a dealer shuffling and dealing hands to one or more players seated around a gaming table.

FIG. 1 shows a gaming machine upon which the method of the present invention can be carried out. The gaming machine 10 includes a video screen display 20 on which is shown the playing cards that will be used during the play of the method of the present invention. The video screen display 20 also includes other information and data presented to the player to allow the player to understand the play of the game and to effect the operation of the method.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the video screen display 20 shows a credit meter 22 and a display of the “bet per hand” 24 which is the number of credits wagered on each hand for a particular round of play of the game. The video screen display also has a DEAL touch screen location to allow the player to cause the initial deal of the cards to be displayed on the video screen display 20. Other touch screen locations allow the player to make his initial wager, which can be made one credit at a time using the BET location 26 or which can be made by wagering the maximum number of credits allowed by the gaming machine using the BET MAX location 28.

The gaming machine 10 also has a button panel 40 which includes typical buttons that the player may press to activate various actions during the play of the method of the present invention. A CASH OUT button 41 is provided to allow the player to collect any credits which the player has accrued on the credit meter 22. A BET MAX button 42 and a BET button 44 are provided to allow the player to wager either the maximum amount of credits or to wager one credit at a time on the play of the game as desired by the player, if the player wishes to use buttons to place his wager instead of using the touch screen locations 26 and 28 to place his wager. A DEAL button 46 is provided to allow the player to effect the initial deal step of the method of play as desired should the player prefer to use the button panel instead of the DEAL screen location 47 on the video screen display 20.

The gaming machine 10 also includes a coin head 50 to allow the player to insert coins or gaming tokens as wagers to allow play of the gaming machine 10. A bill acceptor slot 52 is also provided on the gaming machine 10. In order to accrue credits that may be used to play the gaming machine 10, the player inserts paper currency or other suitable script or gaming coupons into the bill acceptor slot 52 behind which, on the interior of the gaming machine, is mounted a bill acceptor which takes in and validates the currency. The monetary value of the inserted currency is then applied to the credit meter 22, the credits on which the player may use to play the gaming machine.

A plurality of buttons 48 can also be provided on the button panel 40 to allow the player to select the number of hands which the player wishes to play. For example, ONE HAND button 48 A allows the player to select to play one hand of stud poker. TWO HAND button 48B allows the player to select to play two hands of stud poker. THREE HAND button 48C allows the player to select to play three hands of stud poker. FOUR HAND button 48D allows the player to select to play four hands of stud poker. FIVE HAND button 48E allows the player to select to play five hands of stud poker. SIX HAND button 48F allows the player to select to play six hands of stud poker. Any suitable distribution of the number of hands can be allocated to the buttons and fewer or more than Six buttons 48 can be used.

Instead of using buttons on the button panel, the video screen display 20 can be provided with touch screen locations (not shown) that the player would touch to select the number of hands that the player wishes to play.

Any other conventional and suitable equipment can be included in the gaming machine.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention uses a standard fifty-two card deck of playing cards. A player makes a wager to activate the game and the player selects to play six hands during that round of the game. The wager can be allocated equally among all six hands, or the player may elect to wager different amounts on each of the six hands.

The six hands comprise a full hand of five cards and five other hands which are subsets of the full five card hand. For illustration purposes, FIG. 1 shows the six hands. The full hand 60 comprises five cards labeled card 1, card 2, card 3, card 4 and card 5.

There are also two four card hands which are subsets of the full hand 60. Hand 71 comprises the four cards labeled card 1, card 2, card 3 and card 4. Hand 72 comprises the four cards labeled card 2, card 3, card 4 and card 5.

There are also three three card hands which are subsets of the full hand 60. Hand 81 comprises the three cards labeled card 1, card 2 and card 3. Hand 82 comprises the three cards labeled card 2, card 3 and card 4. Hand 83 comprises the three cards labeled card 3, card 4 and card 5.

After the wagers are made and after the deck of playing cards has been electronically shuffled, a full stud poker hand of five cards 60 is randomly dealt and displayed face up to the player on the screen display 20. Each of the cards from the full hand are redisplayed in each of the subset hands according to the appropriate card location as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 shows an example of such a deal in which the player is dealt as the full hand 60 the Seven of Spades as card 1, the Six of Spades as card 2, the Five of Spades as card 3, the Queen of Spades as card 4 and the Queen of Diamonds as card 5.

The player has been dealt a Pair of Queens in the full hand 60 and, using a suitable pay table for this method of play, this would be a winning hand. The player is paid according to the pay table for a Pair of Jacks or Better based on the amount of the player's wager.

Any suitable pay table may be used for the full hand of five card stud poker. One suitable pay table for five card stud poker is shown in Table 1: TABLE 1 Poker Hand Combination Payout Less than Pair of Sevens Losing Pair of Sevens thru Aces 2 for 1 Two Pair 4 for 1 Three of a Kind 5 for 1 Straight 10 for 1 Flush 15 for 1 Full House 25 for 1 Four of a Kind (Fives through Kings) 100 for 1 Four of a Kind (Twos, Threes or Fours) 200 for 1 Four Aces 300 for 1 Four Twos, Threes or Fours with a 500 for 1 Kicker Four Aces with a Kicker 800 for 1 Straight Flush 200 for 1 Royal Flush 4000 for 1 As is generally recognized by those of skill in the art, “kicker” means an Ace, Two, Three or Four, as appropriate. Based on the pay table in Table 1, the player would win two credits for each credit wagered on the full hand 60 for achieving a Pair of Queens.

Additionally, each of the two four card hands are analyzed to determine whether any winning hand combinations appear. Appropriate card combinations are designated as winning four card stud poker hands and would be shown in a suitable pay table.

Any suitable pay table may be used for the four card stud poker hands. One suitable four card stud pay table is shown in Table 2: TABLE 2 Poker Hand Combination Payout Less than Pair of Losing Pair of Fours thru 1 for 1 Two Pair 8 for 1 Three of a Kind 10 for 1 Straight 20 for 1 Flush 28 for 1 Full House 25 for 1 Four of a Kind 200 for 1 Straight Flush 100 for 1 Royal Flush 1000 for 1

When used in connection with four card stud poker hands, a Straight is a four card straight and a Flush is a four card Flush. A Straight Flush is a four card straight all in the same suit. A Royal Flush is considered to be either the Ace, King, Queen and Jack of the same suit or the King, Queen, Jack and Ten of the same suit.

With reference to FIG. 2, the player has been dealt Four Spades in the first four card hand 71 and, using a suitable pay table such as Table 2 for this method of play, this would be a winning hand. The player is paid according to the pay table for a Flush based on the amount of the player's wager. Using the pay table shown in Table 2, the player would win twenty-eight credits for each credit wagered on hand 71 for achieving a Flush.

With reference to the second four card hand 72, the player has been dealt a Pair of Queens. Using the pay table shown in Table 2, the player would win eight credits for each credit wagered on hand 72 for achieving a Pair of Fours or Better.

Finally, each of the three three card hands are analyzed to determine whether any winning hand combinations appear. Appropriate card combinations are designated as winning three card stud poker hands and would be shown in a suitable pay table.

Any suitable pay table may be used for the three card stud poker hands. One suitable three card stud pay table is shown in Table 3: TABLE 3 Poker Hand Payout Less than a Pair Losing Any Pair 1 for 1 Three of a Kind 20 for 1 Straight 9 for 1 Flush 8 for 1 Straight Flush 30 for 1 Royal Flush 60 for 1

When used in connection with three card stud poker hands, a Straight is a three card straight and a Flush is a three card Flush. A Straight Flush is a three card straight all in the same suit. A Royal Flush is considered to be either the Ace, King and Queen of the same suit, the King, Queen and Jack of the same suit or the Queen, Jack and Ten of the same suit.

With reference to FIG. 2, the player has been dealt a three card Straight Flush in the first three card hand 81 and, using a suitable pay table such as Table 2 for this method of play, this would be a winning hand. The player is paid according to the pay table for a Straight Flush based on the amount of the player's wager. Using the pay table shown in Table 2, the player would win thirty credits for each credit wagered on hand 81 for achieving a Straight Flush.

With reference to the second three card hand 82, the player has been dealt a three card Flush. Using the pay table shown in Table 2, the player would win eight credits for each credit wagered on hand 82 for achieving a Flush.

With reference to the third three card hand 83, the player has been dealt a Pair of Queens. Using the pay table shown in Table 2, the player would win one credit for each credit wagered on hand 82 for achieving a Pair.

In connection with the five card, four card and three card stud poker hands, any suitable poker hand combinations can be designated was winning and losing hand combinations. The amount won by the player is determined according to a pay table based on the poker hand combination achieved by the player and the amount wagered by the player.

Typically, pay tables are determined based on the mathematical probability of certain poker combinations occurring during the play of the game. Any suitable pay table can be used based on the percentage game return which the gaming establishment wishes to offer to the player.

In one variation of the present invention, the number of hands that are used from subsets of the full hand can be any desired number. For example, there are five possible four card combinations of the full five card hand and there are nine possible three card combinations of the full five card hand. Any one, more or all of these four and three card combinations may be used or selected as the stud hands that are used as subsets of the full hand.

Another variation can use full stud hands having more than five cards B such as six card, seven card or more card stud hands. Winning hand combinations can be based on the best five card poker hand achieved out of the six, seven or more card hands. Alternatively, the winning hand combinations can be the best six, seven or more card stud poker hand achieved. When six or more card poker hands are used, then additional non-traditional poker hand rankings can be used as winning card combinations such as two Three-of-a-Kinds, or a Four-of-a-Kind and a Pair, Six (or more) Card Straight Flushes and Six (or more) Card Royal Flushes. The pay tables would be modified to account for the mathematical probabilities of achieving these different poker hand rankings.

If the full stud hand has more than five cards, then the number of subset hands becomes even larger. The pay tables would be modified mathematically to account for such a variation.

Another variation would include designating certain cards as wild cards or adding one or more Jokers to the standard deck and using the Jokers as wild cards. When wild cards are used, the pay tables would need to be recalculated to reflect the change in the probability of the various winning hand combinations as well as any other desired card combinations (such as Five-of-a-Kinds or Wild Royal Flushes) that could be used as winning combinations.

While the invention has been illustrated with respect to several specific embodiments thereof, these embodiments should be considered as illustrative rather than limiting. Various modifications and additions may be made and will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the invention should not be limited by the foregoing description, but rather should be defined only by the following claims. 

1. A method of playing a stud poker game comprising: a) a player making a wager that is allocated among a five card stud poker hand, at least one four card stud poker hand and at least one three card stud poker hand; b) displaying a five card stud poker hand to the player; c) if the five card stud poker hand comprises a predetermined arrangement of cards, providing the player with an award based on the amount of the wager allocated to the five card stud poker hand; d) if a four card subset of the initial five card stud poker hand comprises a predetermined arrangement of cards, providing the player with an award based on the amount of the wager allocated to the four card subset of the five card stud poker hand; and e) if a three card subset of the initial five card stud poker hand comprises a predetermined arrangement of cards, providing the player with an award based on the amount of the wager allocated to the three card subset of the five card stud poker hand.
 2. The method of claim 1 in which the predetermined arrangement of cards is poker hand ranking and the award made to the player is based on a pay table.
 3. The method of claim 2 in which a first pay table is used for the five card hand, a second pay table is used for the four card subset, and a third pay table is used for the three card subset.
 4. A method of playing a stud poker game comprising: a) a player making a wager that is allocated among a five card stud poker hand, at least one four card stud poker hand and at least one three card stud poker hand; b) displaying a five card stud poker hand to the player, the hand consisting of card 1, card 2, card 3, card 4 and card 5; c) if the five card stud poker hand comprises a predetermined arrangement of cards, providing the player with an award based on the amount of the wager allocated to the five card stud poker hand; d) if a first four card subset of the initial five card stud poker hand consisting of card 1, card 2, card 3 and card 4 comprises a predetermined arrangement of cards, providing the player with an award based on the amount of the wager allocated to the first four card subset of the five card stud poker hand; e) if a second four card subset of the initial five card stud poker hand consisting of card 2, card 3, card 4 and card 5 comprises a predetermined arrangement of cards, providing the player with an award based on the amount of the wager allocated to the second four card subset of the five card stud poker hand; f) if a first three card subset of the initial five card stud poker hand consisting of card 1, card 2 and card 3 comprises a predetermined arrangement of cards, providing the player with an award based on the amount of the wager allocated to the first three card subset of the five card stud poker hand; g) if a second three card subset of the initial five card stud poker hand consisting of card 2, card 3 and card 4 comprises a predetermined arrangement of cards, providing the player with an award based on the amount of the wager allocated to the second three card subset of the five card stud poker hand; and h) if a third three card subset of the initial five card stud poker hand consisting of card 3, card 4 and card 5 comprises a predetermined arrangement of cards, providing the player with an award based on the amount of the wager allocated to the third three card subset the five card stud poker hand.
 5. The method of claim 4 in which the predetermined arrangement of cards is poker hand ranking and the award made to the player is based on a pay table.
 6. The method of claim 5 in which a first pay table is used for the five card hand, a second pay table is used for the four card subsets, and a third pay table is used for the three card subsets. 